Mark Bozzuti-Jones - Miter Fits Just Fine: A Story about the Rt. Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris: The First Woman Bishop in the Anglican Communion

As the day of consecration came near, devout Christians from other denominations, dignitaries, and well wishers of every nation, color, and persuasion under heaven gathered in Boston. Throughout the Diocese, people prepared for this great event. Many said it was a new birth for the church; a new Pentecost.

The attention of the world focused upon Barbara and Boston as the day drew nearer. Indeed, many felt they were living in a time of the fulfillment of scriptures, in Christ, there is no Jew nor Greek, no male or female.

On February 11, 1988 the sun shone brightly and the clouds looked like angels on Jacobs ladder. A large flock of doves flew over the Cathedral Church of St. Paul and disappeared from sight.

So many were those who wanted to come the diocese decided to find a space much bigger than the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. They selected a convention center in Boston, large enough to seat all those expected to attend.

At the Hynes Convention Center before 8,000 people, many bishops, many women priests, many African Americans, and a whole host of people of good will, Barbara Clementine Harris was consecrated Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.

Never before in the history of the Episcopal Church had there been a gathering so festive, so colorful, and so joyous. For forty-five minutes acolytes, guests, civic leaders, and 1,200 priests and bishops processed into the church, rocking and swaying as the choirs sang the music of Gabrieli and Handel, Mozart and the spirituals, In Dat Great Getting Up Mornin and Ride on, King Jesus. When the crowd caught sight of her entering the auditorium the whole room rose in a thunderous and joyful standing ovation. Barbara Harris turned to her friend, Canon Ed Rodman, a priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts, and said to him, What a hell of a welcome.

The Presiding Bishop, Edmond Lee Browning, was the chief consecrating bishop, and he was joined by many bishops from the United States and other countries. The Rev. Li Tim Oi from China, the first woman ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion participated in the Eucharist.

As is the custom, the Presiding Bishop gave an opportunity for those who did not agree with the ordination of Barbara to express their dissent. You could feel the silence.

For a few moments nothing happened. Then heads started turning. A man was heading toward an open mike. People started whispering to each other; they knew the man. He was a priest who had been against the ordination of female bishops.

Some in the crowd started to shout as a way of preventing him from speaking. Bishop Browning asked for silence. Barbara kept her eyes focused on the cross. She never looked at him.

He held the mike tightly, twisting it. Then he screamed, This is a farce! You are not a priest, not a bishop, and no sacraments that you perform will be legitimate. I call on the Presiding Bishop not to go ahead with this pretended ordination.

As the man continued to speak the crowd got restless. But they had expected this. The man continued to quote from the canons and the scriptures why Barbara should not be made a bishop.

As he spoke, an elderly Black woman got out of her seat. She was well dressed and wore a beautiful hat. She straightened it and left her seat.

Thats Barbaras mother, someone whispered. I wonder what she is going to do.

Walking over to Barbara she hugged her and said, Dont worry my child. It will be all right. I am your mother and I know. As soon as the women hugged each other, the man stopped talking and went back to his seat.

Bishop Browning stood up and said, A majority of bishops have approved the ordination and we have followed the correct procedures. It is of God. Let us proceed. The church stood and applauded joyfully.

Soon all the bishops present came forward to lay their hands on Barbara Clementine Harris following a very ancient tradition that for thousands of years was only done for men.

The bishops then moved back to their positions. Standing like a bright sun on a cloudy day, Barbara was dressed in her miter and the vestments of a bishop. It was the first time a woman had worn a miter and held the bishops staff in the history of the Anglican Church.

She looked radiant, confident and looked right. The Miter Fits Just Fine, a newspaper headline read the next day. It was one of the things Barbara said that day. The miter fits fine. And it did.

The girl from Germantown was the new bishop in the Anglican Communion.

Since that Great Getting Up Mornin, February 11, 1988, the Rt. Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris, the courageous little girl from Philadelphia, has stood as an icon, a beacon of hope, a voice for justice, and a clear sign that God dwells among us.

Bishop Harris holds a vision of Gods reign for all peoples with music in her heart. She invites all people to follow God, invites the church to walk with her, and promises that you can sing along with one of her favorite songs:

Im pressing on the upward way,
New heights Im gaining every day
Still praying as I onward bound,
Lord plant my feet on higher ground.
For faith has caught a joyful sound.
The song of saints on higher ground.
Lord lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on heavens table land
A higher plain that I have found,
Lord plant my feet on higher ground.

Bishop Barbara Clementine Harris worked hard all her life, but she worked especially hard on behalf of justice, equal rights for all, and for a church where all are respected and loved. She has had rough days, and the battle at times has been fierce. Some bishops and lay people in the world still revile her, accuse and falsely say all manner of evil against her. She has had to learn how to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove. She has continued her commitment to the professional and community organizations she holds dear. Bishop Harris has continued to find life and grace in her parish visits. She has continued to prophesy. These are words she repeats quite often in her travels:

The world today is looking for truth; it is looking for justice; it is looking for those who have compassion, yea even more for those who are willing to demonstrate their faith and their conviction by being examples of that which we profess. No one expects us to eliminate all of the evil of the world, nor to liberate all those who are oppressed, nor to feed all who are hungry or to house the millions who are homeless. But when the oppressed see one who fights for liberation, their burden is lightened because they know that somebody cares. When the victims of injustice see one who is fighting for justice, their suffering is a little less painful because they know that somebody cares. When the world sees one who takes a righteous stand and is willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake, it knows that somebody cares.